Here are a few key tips to make sure your property damage claim doesn’t make a bad situation worse.

1.     Make sure your insurance company pays you first, not a roofing company or contractor. Never sign over your insurance payment to a 3rd party contractor.  See more insurance claim tips.

Several significant milestones recently passed, so I thought I would share a few of them with you. Most importantly is the adjournment of the 2014 Florida Legislative Session. As the old saying goes, no one is safe when the legislature is in session! While it was predicted, not much earthshaking legislation passed, given the upcoming fall election cycle. That proved to be mostly true with at least insurance issues.

As the 2014 Florida Legislative Session enters its final week, once again there are insurance industry backed proposals that will impact public adjusters and their ability to advocate for the policyholder. A purposed amendment was added to a bill in the house this past week seeking to limit the rates public adjusters can charge for their services……something that was debated by this same group last year.

As we approach the midpoint for this year’s legislative session in Tallahassee, things are not looking good for a key piece of legislation championed by Chief Financial Officer, Jeff Atwater.  Briefly, his push for a policyholder’s “Bill of Rights” came out of a number of formal meetings chaired by the then DFS consumer advocate.  The meetings were held by an eclectic group of stakeholders who had an interest in the adjusting process ostensibly to air issues that policyholders were complaining about following a loss.

A four-page unsolicited letter I received last week from an attorney filled me in on some of the inner workings of the powers to be in Tallahassee and reminded me of this famous line from the Forrest Gump movie. This letter was like a box of chocolates as each paragraph revealed something new. Apparently, he has been following some of my writings, specifically about the reduction in coverage for the  water peril, the most frequent cause of losses for property damage and wanted to give me some background on how this all went down. 

It’s been an eventful year for public adjusters and the insurance claims industry. So I want to share my 2014 News Year’s Wish List for the property insurance industry.

1. I wish Congress would fix the Biggert-Waters 2012 National Flood Insurance Reform Act. This extremely ill-conceived act of Congress is causing great harm to homeowners all across this country. Remember, an affordability study was supposed to have been commissioned with this legislation but is now two years away according to some accounts in the media. Meanwhile, policyholders who have been in their homes for years (and I am not just talking about high priced homeowners) are hurting because of premium increases and no buyers for their property. Shame on Congress for this!

A recent phone call with one of my Naples clients prompted me to think about the coming storm for property owners in the Sunshine State.  Like a natural hurricane, it looks like nothing man made will stop what is already in motion.